During this period, Laszlo had been closely monitoring the situation on the front lines.
After taking Corfu, Laszlo knew he was but one step away from victory.
While awaiting the latest intelligence, he did not relax his attention to domestic affairs in the slightest.
Whether it was road construction, the establishment of the postal system, or the farmers' second harvest and autumn planting, none were significantly affected by the war.
On the imperial front, when the deadline for public donations and taxes arrived, the vast majority of princes paid the full amount.
Even the Duke of Lorraine, who was leading rebels in the Kingdom of Aragon, had to bow to the Emperor for the security of his territory.
He not only paid the public donation and tax but also sent a letter with earnest words, in which the Duke expressed his apologies and acknowledged that the Duchy of Lorraine was an inseparable part of the Empire.
Facing the adaptable Duke of Lorraine, and considering the imminent assembly of the Crusaders, Laszlo did not continue to make things difficult for him.
After all, the real trouble the Anjou family faced now was not him, but the Kingdom of Aragon, whose relationship with the Kingdom of France was on the verge of collapse.
Louis XI's indulgence of the Anjou family led to the bitter consequence that Juan II no longer trusted the French King; after all, the son of France's chief minister was now the supreme commander of the Catalan rebels, which infuriated Juan II.
With France having to deal with the challenge from Burgundy on one side, and its relationship with the Kingdom of Aragon continuously deteriorating on the other, such a situation was naturally a welcome sight for Laszlo.
As for those imperial estates that truly couldn't pay, they either fully funded their participation in the Crusaders or faced the sanctions of imperial law.
Ultimately, to meet this tax, some even approached the Imperial Bank, using assets as collateral to obtain loans sufficient to fill the gap, thus avoiding the double blow of excommunication and imperial ban.
In his leisure time after handling busy official duties, Laszlo finally deigned to spend some time with his children.
A year had passed since Leonor's death, and Empress Dowager Elizabeth, who had originally planned to enjoy her later years in her homeland of Hungary, was brought back to Vienna.
There, she looked after and educated the Empire's princes and princesses, especially the gradually maturing Christopher and Maximilian.
A professional team of court teachers, composed of several professors from Vienna University, provided strict language and science education to the two princes.
They needed to learn German, Latin, and Greek, and after Laszlo found a new mentor, Janus Pannonius, for Maximilian, both also had to learn Hungarian.
In science, they mainly studied mathematics and astronomy.
Professor Regiomontanus, an expert in this field, had recently established Austria's first observatory with Laszlo's patronage, and he occasionally taught his students some knowledge of astrology.
If Laszlo's useless uncle Tielie were here, he would certainly be very interested in this subject.
However, Christopher, as a devout believer personally guided by a Cardinal, was skeptical of astrology, while Maximilian considered it a complete trick, believing more in his own strength.
Regardless of the two youngsters' attitudes towards learning, they both received high praise from their respective teachers.
Christopher's diligence and conscientiousness, as well as Maximilian's quick wit and courage, were all reported to Laszlo in detail.
Light snow fell from the sky, casting a thin veil over prosperous Vienna.
Inside Hofburg Palace, flames danced in the fireplace, and Laszlo stayed indoors with his children.
Christopher held an essay, flipping through it while reciting.
Sitting beside him were Maximilian and Manuel, the Despot of Morea's younger brother and first heir; both looked tired and drowsy.
"A true Christian King should be gentle, benevolent, upright, and sincere.
He should uphold faith, maintain justice and restraint, and make the preservation of peace among nations his primary task."
Christopher's amusing recitation and gestures made Kunigunde, who was nestled in a maid's arms nearby, giggle.
Laszlo, however, seemed thoughtful about this passage.
The essay Christopher was reading was written by Laszlo's teacher, Aeneas.
In 1439, Aeneas, who had just left the Council of Basel that split the papacy, accepted Albrecht's invitation to come to Vienna as court poet.
In 1444, the fourth year after Laszlo's birth, Aeneas was appointed as Laszlo's mentor, and it was then that he wrote this essay on how to educate an imperial prince.
Undoubtedly, Aeneas, who had already experienced the harsh realities of society, had witnessed the darkest side of the Empire and the Holy See.
A fractured and unsupervised Empire, a papacy once again divided, and the menacing Ottoman infidels—these made Aeneas even more eager to cultivate an excellent monarch, who would then end all chaos, maintain order in the Christian world, repel the aggression of the infidels, and ultimately establish a universal empire unified by religious faith and secular military power.
Of course, Laszlo knew the other name of this world empire in Aeneas's ideal: Rome.
To cultivate Laszlo into an outstanding monarch, Aeneas heaped upon him all the qualities he could think of for an excellent king.
Unfortunately, from Laszlo's perspective, Aeneas's teachings did not achieve the desired effect; instead, the original "Laszlo" became a very weak, easily manipulated puppet.
As for the current Laszlo, he was a complete collection of contradictions, for his thoughts always clashed with the times, thus always appearing at times cruel and warlike, and at other times devout and benevolent, making it impossible to discern his true intentions.
Laszlo's gaze swept over the serious Christopher; this foolish child seemed to take the platitudes seriously.
He immediately turned his gaze to Maximilian, who was sneering at it, and asked, "Maximilian, what virtues do you think a king or emperor should possess?"
"Victory."
Maximilian slowly uttered this word.
He did not directly answer the question but gave an answer that puzzled everyone present.
Under their questioning gazes, he immediately explained: "As long as a monarch can continuously achieve victory, everything he does will be praised by the world, regardless of whether it is good or bad for the people.
Therefore, any quality that helps achieve victory in war is a good quality.
And to maintain lasting peace, the method is also very simple: let everyone be under the rule of the same monarch, that is, the Emperor, and restrain people by law and faith, thereby ending strife."
As he spoke these words, his eyes were constantly fixed on Laszlo, as if seeking his approval.
If Christopher's hope was to be a conservative monarch, then Maximilian was clearly an ambitious person eager to expand territory.
According to him, a monarch should exhaust military resources and constantly pursue victory and territorial expansion, but this was clearly unrealistic.
Of course, given Laszlo's own actions, he was hardly qualified to criticize Maximilian's ideas.
Rather, he saw in Maximilian the hope of establishing a world empire, but the risks involved in this hope made even Laszlo feel a chill.
"This is indeed very important, because if one cannot guarantee victory in war, it means the monarch cannot protect his land and subjects, and in that case, all virtues are useless.
However, a wise monarch cannot rely solely on war to maintain the stability of the country, as no one knows the outcome of the next war.
He must be able to control his desires, be rational and decisive, pure and thorough in thought, devout in faith, firm in planning great affairs, not exhaust military resources but be able to stop wars with force, love and maintain peace, establish the rule of law, and be able to judge rewards and punishments judiciously.
Always remember faith and honor in your heart; these are the keys to becoming noble people."
As he spoke these words of admonition, Laszlo also examined his own heart, to see how many of these points he could achieve.
The several youths receiving instruction nodded, half-understanding; for them, these teachings seemed too early.
Just then, an attendant came to announce the arrival of Chief Minister Eyczing.
After Laszlo left in a hurry, the children's expressions finally relaxed.
Christopher was still pondering his father's words, while Maximilian had already pulled out a knight's novel from who knows where and began reading it.
Of Laszlo's lengthy discourse just now, the little fellow only remembered one word: honor, which was precisely what Maximilian craved.
On the other side, Laszlo met a beaming Eyczing indoors, which eased his mood.
"Eyczing, any more news?"
"Your Majesty, a great victory! Twin Ports has been taken by us.
The mercenaries responsible for the city's defense, seeing no reinforcements and facing severe supply shortages, chose to open the gates and surrender to the Bulgarian army.
Now the Despot of Morea's army is garrisoning Twin Ports; most of the surrendered mercenaries are retreating to Athens, while the rest have been incorporated by the Despot of Morea to expand the Grand Ducal Guard."
Eyczing's excitement was beyond words; they had already captured the "Eye of the Republic," and the subsequent battles would be even easier.
"What about the Venetian navy? No news?"
"The Crusader Fleet ambushed them midway through the route but did not find the main Venetian Fleet, presumably they have been holed up in Crete."
Hearing this news, Laszlo was slightly surprised.
When did the Venetian navy become so cowardly? Even with fewer ships, the Venetians should at least have made some attempts.
However, since the Venetians had readily given up Modon-Koroni, Laszlo no longer thought much of it, assuming that the Venetians had completely lost their fighting spirit.
"The Crusaders are about to launch; I think it is time for the war between us and Venice to end."
"Indeed, this war began hastily, but fortunately, the final outcome did not exceed our expectations."
In reality, Venetian peace letters and envoys had visited Vienna countless times, but previously, the Venetians had always held back some strength, naturally wanting to bargain with their remaining power.
But now, Venice was already half-buried, with only its "head," the isolated city of Venice, remaining.
Those overseas territories were either lost or cut off, unable to play any role.
Even if the Venetians hanged the governor of Corfu and exiled Admiral Canale of the ineffective Aegean Sea Fleet, it was already too late; the disadvantage they now faced was irreversible.
It was only a matter of time before the Republic of Venice would naturally collapse.
At such a time, the possibility of the Venetian Government accepting any conditions Laszlo proposed would naturally greatly increase.
"I remember the Venetians referred to their overseas territories as Upper Rome and Lower Rome; is this true?"
"That's right, Venice once emulated the Byzantines, calling the entire geographical area they occupied the Roman Empire, and dividing it into two regions: Lower Rome, which included the Peloponnese, Crete, the Aegean Islands, and Negroponte;
Upper Rome, which included the lands and seas further north, along the Dardanelles all the way to Constantinople.
Further north was the Black Sea, a new area yet to be explored."
"Hmph, since it is Roman land, it naturally belongs to me, the Roman Emperor.
Make them surrender all their overseas territories.
Then, the Venetians must swear allegiance to me, and Venice shall become a vassal state of Austria, required to pay sufficient annual tribute, 50,000 florins every year!"
"Your Majesty, wouldn't such conditions be too harsh?"
Once all overseas territories were lost, Venice's long-established trade network in the Eastern Mediterranean would undoubtedly be destroyed, and the very foundation of the nation would be completely shattered.
At the same time, Austria would not be able to take over such a vast trade network in the short term, and over time, it would benefit third parties, such as the two watchful commercial republics of Genoa and Ragusa.
"Hmm, we can leave those important transit points to the Venetians, but some crucial nodes must be personally controlled by us, and Austrian ships must also gain the right to use these ports.
As for the annual tribute, 50,000 florins is not much, at least it won't be a problem for the Venetians.
Furthermore, regarding the Golden Book nobility and the Great Council, I will not recognize their so-called noble status, but this list can be converted into a special list granting commercial and political privileges.
Just as the Venetians absorbed Golden Book nobles, we will also charge a fee of three thousand florins per person.
Those who pay can become councilors and enjoy more privileges; those who cannot pay will all be kicked out.
The Republic of Venice can enjoy autonomy and even continue to elect a Doge, but diplomacy and military affairs must be controlled by me.
Do you think they will accept such conditions?"
Facing Laszlo's question, Eyczing pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "The Republic of Venice is now at the end of its rope; they have no other choice."
"Then immediately send someone to inform the Venetian Government and have them send representatives for peace talks."
Laszlo commanded.
While it was called peace talks, it was actually more like accepting a surrender, as Laszlo had already pushed the Venetians, who had repeatedly opposed him, into a truly desperate situation.